Articles such as bird drinkers are known and supply to a bird a supply of drinking water. Where drinkers are used in a large scale poultry house multiple drinkers are supplied from a single supply pipeline. Typically the supply is constant or relatively constant and the pressure is controlled to provide the amount of water required by the birds being raised. Chlorination or other medication may be added to the water when required to help the birds remain healthy.
The water supply pipes or lines to which the drinkers are secured tend to collect debris and the drinker connections are difficult to keep clean. Square pipes, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,950 are used to help reduce this problem, and are also sized so the height acts to limit the opening of a drinking nipple within the pipe, but the total flow in such a pipe may not be sufficient to supply many nipples because of the limited size of the pipe and additionally the water supply pipe may need additional support because of a lack of rigidity over a longer extent.
In addition such bird drinkers are currently prone to variations in pressure in the supply lines resulting in either inadequate water supply to a drinker or too much water being supplied to a drinker. In the former case where the drinker is used in a poultry house a bird will drink longer at the drinker and tend to drink more, resulting in a bird eating less food and hence growing slower. In the latter case the drinker will tend to drip into the poultry house litter resulting in the growth of fungus or other adventitious organisms, or if the drinker has a drinking cup catching any drips this will fill and tend to trap litter and debris.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,950 also shows a drinker bowl clipped to the supply pipe and the complex support system required with the comparatively small flexible pipe to maintain the supply pipe level.
Systems with complex clips and complex supports take considerable time to set up and require considerable maintenance, providing problems for the poultry house operators.
The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems which offers advantages over the prior art or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term ‘comprise’ may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term ‘comprise’ shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term ‘comprised’ or ‘comprising’ is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.